Chapter 248: Candidates

The starry sky stretches on infinitely.

The mountains on the ground also stretch on forever.

The Hall of Heroic Souls above the clouds has unknowingly changed; every Heroic Soul has added its own color to it.

Stars dot the heroes and history, while the roars of beasts rising and falling across the wasteland give this night the color of life.

At some point, stories of heroes appeared on the murals: ancient sages busy in alchemy chambers, judgmental knights hunting evil across the wasteland, and that fearless heroine, facing alone the giant beast that holds up the sky and earth.

"Where is this?"

When the first young man stepped in wrapped in shadow, he was naturally stunned by this scene.

Looking out, he saw the mountains outside the ancient hall; beneath the unshielded cliffs lay boundless white clouds, and occasionally giant birds and flying dragons would rise up.

This sight reminded the witness of the Cloud City from myths, but the calm winds and scenery, the statues and murals each telling stories and history, felt more like the land of the gods from legends.

"This is the Hall of Heroic Souls."

A cold voice sounded from the side; beneath the high platform, a knight in black armor silently watched him.

"Don't block the way."

Behind him, shadows one by one entered this vast stage, resembling a classical arena, through void gates.

This time, the number of figures entering was especially large; young figures from every corner of the world stepped in.

Their races and ages varied; among them were beastmen, elves, and even giants as tall as mountains who had been forcibly shrunk.

One, two... only when the shadows reached exactly twelve did no new person step in.

This time, Li En did not see any particularly outrageous life forms, so he did not directly kick anyone out; but he, who could see through shadows, was very satisfied with this harvest.

These newcomers all looked very strong; truly worthy of a continent-spanning wide-area selection.

Among them, Li En naturally spotted a few old acquaintances.

Little Miss Lana stepped in a bit dazed, naturally blocked within the crowd. Worth mentioning is that she was actually not the "youngest" in this batch; a floating little elf quietly stood on her shoulder.

And as soon as Hela entered, she silently watched that man on the platform; that man still looked at the young people before him with a cynical air, but Li En could feel his guilt.

Thanks to Rosalind's attack, Lex made up his mind to shoulder some responsibility; otherwise, the one wearing this skin and stepping onto the platform right now would probably have been Li En himself.

And Li En, he probably wouldn't really be able to control the scene this time.

"Silence."

The calm words echoed throughout the entire hall; that shockwave, like thunder, stunned all the witnesses.

And this was only the beginning; only then did everyone notice the young warrior on the platform.

He simply stood there with arms crossed, wearing a silver mask; though his expression was calm, he gave off an extremely strong sense of pressure.

Some in the crowd showed looks of shock; they, perhaps, had already recognized the presence before them from legends and stories.

"My candidates, don't let the seniors' students see a joke."

Only then did they notice void gates opening one by one, and people entering the hall, some hurriedly, some slowly.

The latecomers seemed to know each other; they exchanged greetings and then stepped aside, seemingly yielding the "protagonist" position; this also seemed to imply that this was not the first time this happened, and even vaguely suggested there were procedures and unwritten rules.

"Silence. This is the place where the Heroic Souls pass on their legacy."

The shadow on Li En had already dispersed; since that "class reunion" was established, he was destined to become a publicly known figure acting as a liaison.

Unlike previous Heroic Soul inheritances, this time they tried to make it more formal, also because the candidates' identities were special.

This time, Li En did not trouble Dai Niya; he opened his mouth himself to introduce some basic situations.

"To put it bluntly, I want to take a disciple; the Hall of Heroic Souls says you can be candidates; whether it works or not, I decide."

And while Li En was halfway through his introduction, Lex suddenly interrupted him.

He still stood with arms crossed, looking left and right; that display of dominance was unmistakable.

This time, unlike Sul's approachability and Kuku's scholarly air, this time it was clearly a matter of official business.